Public participation in groundwater projects is increasing, however, the efficacy of the data collected in such studies, is not well‐documented in the literature. In this study, the authors describe a citizen science project focused on measuring and recording groundwater levels in an aquifer and evaluate whether the groundwater data collected by the participants are trustworthy. A total of 31 participants were initially recruited to measure and record groundwater levels from 29 monitoring wells on a barrier island. Following recruitment, the authors provided training to the citizen scientists by introducing groundwater concepts, and showing the participants how to measure, record and report groundwater level data (over an 81‐day period) with an electronic water level meter. The water level data recorded by the citizen scientists (i.e., 35 time series datasets with over 450 unique measurements) were then compared to high frequency data recorded by automated water level loggers that were already deployed in the groundwater monitoring wells to assess the trustworthiness of the data. Trustworthiness was evaluated using measures of reliability (i.e., consistency in measuring the same thing), validity (i.e., degree to which results are truthful), and other standard graphical and statistical techniques. The results suggest that with proper training, guidance, and motivation, citizen scientists can collect trustworthy groundwater level data that could be useful for monitoring the sustainability of aquifers and managing of groundwater levels. It is noted however, that such positive outcomes require significant investments of time and effort on the part of the project managers.

中文翻译：

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公民科学家收集的地下水位数据值得信赖吗？警示故事。

公众对地下水项目的参与正在增加，但是，在这些研究中收集的数据的有效性尚未在文献中得到充分证明。在这项研究中，作者描述了一个公民科学项目，该项目侧重于测量和记录含水层中的地下水位，并评估参与者收集的地下水数据是否值得信赖。最初招募了31位参与者，以测量和记录屏障岛上29口监测井中的地下水位。征募后，作者通过介绍地下水概念，并向参与者展示了如何使用电子水位计测量，记录和报告地下水位数据（在81天之内），为公民科学家提供了培训。公民科学家记录的水位数据（即，然后将35个时间序列数据集（具有450多个独特的测量值）与已经部署在地下水监测井中的自动水位记录器记录的高频数据进行比较，以评估数据的可信度。可信度使用可靠性（即，测量同一事物的一致性），有效性（即，结果的真实程度）和其他标准图形和统计技术进行评估。结果表明，通过适当的培训，指导和激励，公民科学家可以收集可信赖的地下水位数据，这些数据可用于监测含水层的可持续性和管理地下水位。但是要指出的是，这种积极的成果需要项目经理投入大量的时间和精力。